Evil Always Wins
by Nemesis247
Summary: What will happen when the old antagonists arrive back in the Gold Coast and team up?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Sophie sighed as she pushed through the crowds of customers, making her way back to the counter so that she could serve the long line of people waiting for to order. Needless to say, it was a particularly busy day in Rikki's Café.

Upon reaching the counter, Sophie put on as cheery a grin as she could manage. "May I take your order?"

"Hmm... I'll have a... triple berry smoothie with a side of revenge, please," the redhead in front of her said.

"Sure, and would you like some diet blood with that?" Sophie asked sarcastically.

"No thank you," the girl said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Just the smoothie will be fine."

Sophie laughed. This girl clearly had a sense of humour, unlike some people. As she started to make her smoothie, she casually questioned, "So, what's this about revenge?"

"It's kind of a joke, really, but there are a few people around here who I wouldn't mind getting revenge on. And this may sound a little weird, especially coming from a complete and utter stranger, but I have a feeling that you would quite enjoy getting revenge on those very same people."

Sophie frowned as she shut off the blender and looked up at the girl. "Who exactly are we talking about here?"

"I'm presuming I have the right person: Sophie Benjamin?" Sophie slowly nodded. "Well then, three girls named Cleo Sertori, Emma Gilbert, and Rikki Chadwick."

Sophie grabbed a cup from the shelf on the wall behind her and poured the contents of the blender inside it. It was true that she wanted revenge on those three girls - or Rikki and Cleo at least. She hardly knew Emma, seeing as she had only come back from wherever she had been before a few weeks ago. She did sort of want revenge on her too though, simply for being a best friend of her worst enemies. "How do you know them? And, more importantly, how do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Well," the redhead began then paused as she took a sip of her smoothie, whilst Sophie started serving another customer. "My name is Charlotte Watsford, and I met these three girls two years ago. At first, we were friends, but then they decided they didn't want me in their group and completely excluded me. They even turned my own boyfriend against me. They took a locket from me that belonged to my grandmother. They did all sorts of horrible things to me and I didn't deserve any of it. They need to pay for what they did."

"That sounds awful," Sophie said empathetically. "I know exactly how you feel. You know, Rikki broke up with her boyfriend recently, and even now, she'll do anything to stop me dating him."

"Oh, yes, I know all about the troubles you've had with these girls. And my heart truly does go out to you."

"Thank you. That means a lot," Sophie said, handing the next customer the smoothie she had just made for them. She really meant it. It wasn't often that people felt sorry for her; they usually saw her as the villain. She supposed it was the same with Charlotte too. But suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Wait, how do you know what's happened between me and our mutual enemies? Surely you didn't get the information from them? And, come to think of it, how did you even find out that they are enemies of mine?"

"That is a question that may be answered in a short period of time, if you are willing to take up my offer."

"Which is...?"

"Would you help me to get revenge on Cleo, Rikki, and Emma?"

"Gladly," Sophie replied. "Would you happen to know of a way to get revenge on them?"

A sly smile spread on Charlotte's face. "Good. What time does your shift end?"

Glancing down at her watch, Sophie replied, "In about half an hour. Why?"

Putting down her now empty glass, Charlotte said, "I need to go and talk to a few more people. I should be done by the time you're finished with work. I'll wait just outside the café for you." And then she left, without another word.

* * *

As Charlotte strutted out of the café, past two mermaids who were sitting in a booth near her, one of them - Cleo - glared at her.

"Who's that?" the other - Bella - asked her, confused as to why Cleo was looking at her in such a way.

Cleo turned back around to face Bella. "What?"

"Why were you glaring at that girl who just left?"

"You know how Rikki and I told you about that girl called Charlotte - the one who dated Lewis, or stole him from me, I should say? Whose grandmother was a mermaid, who used to be a mermaid herself? Who abused her powers for the worst, in order to hurt Emma, Rikki and I? Who tried to take our powers away because she thought she was the super mermaid, just because she had all three powers and-"

"Cleo, I get the idea."

"Well that's her."

"Oh. Well, do you think she's still trying to, you know, get back at you?"

"Yes. Did you not see her talking to Sophie over there? I bet they're planning something. After all, Rikki, Emma and I are enemies of Charlotte's, and of Sophie's. They may even be planning something against you. That's how twisted Charlotte is; she doesn't even know your _name_, but she probably already despises you just because you're friends with me."

"Oh, I'm sure they aren't. Think logically. How would Sophie even know that Charlotte hates you and the others, and vice versa? It wouldn't make sense. They were probably just making conversation. They're both pretty mean, so they have a lot in common. That's all."

Cleo sighed. "I guess you're right."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It was just an average summer's day in the small town where Miriam lived: the majestic blue ocean's liquid lips kissed the golden sand that the the glowing medallion in the sky cast its light on. Evidently, the celestial fireball also radiated heat toward the part of the Earth where Miriam was, making her feel as if she was about to ignite into flames. Or perhaps that was simply in accordance with the balled fist of the feisty mermaid named Rikki, who was standing a few metres behind, which could cause things to spontaneously combust in just seconds.

Rikki couldn't believe that the girl who had tried to ruin her relationship on several occasions had come back to the Gold Coast! She still remembered the day that Miriam had forced Zane to kiss her. She had never entirely forgiven her ex-boyfriend for that, even though he had only done it to get Rikki's locket from her. Zane was still an arrogant and conceited jerk.

Putting that issue aside, Rikki despised Miriam either way. She always had, ever since the first time she had lain eyes on her pretty little face, and been victim to her snarky remarks. Rikki's boyfriend wasn't the only thing Miriam had attempted to steal; she had also tried to take Cleo's locket, when it was still in Emma's possession. On top of that, she was a rich snob with a stuck up personality and an 'I'm better than you' attitude toward everyone, including her best friends. And that pretty much summed up why Rikki was trying to boil her to death.

Suddenly, a certain redhead who was all too familiar to Rikki appeared beside Miriam, seated herself next to her and began talking to her. It was only unfortunate that Rikki wasn't near enough to make out the words.

"Are you Miriam Kent?" Charlotte asked.

"That's me..." Miriam replied, slightly uneasily about how this stranger knew her full name. "How do you know?"

"I'm Charlotte Watsford. You don't know me, but you do know Rikki Chadwick, Emma Gilbert and Cleo Sertori, correct?"

"Unfortunately..."

"Well, I too have had the displeasure to make their acquaintances, and I was wondering if you would like to help me get revenge on them."

"Would I ever?!" Miriam exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Excellent," Charlotte said. "For a while now, I have been gathering information about you and some more enemies of my own enemies. I'm planning to gather all of you together so that we can get revenge on Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. How does that sound to you?"

"Hmm... Will it be, like, ultimate revenge? Because there will be so many of us working together? I mean, of course _those_ girls have lots of enemies. Who wouldn't hate them, right?"

"That is extremely true. There will be a pretty large group of us. There aren't very many at the moment, but every person I have spoken to has said yes. Anyway, would you mind meeting me at the café in about twenty minutes? I have to make a few more quick stops to more enemies of our enemies, and I'll be right there."

"Sure." With that, Miriam and Charlotte stood up together, heading their separate ways.

* * *

Just after Charlotte and Miriam left, Zane arrived on the beach and spotted Rikki.

"Hey stranger," he said to her.

"What do you want, _Zane_?" she asked coldly, putting the worst kind of emphasis on his name.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"Why would there be anything wrong? Everything's just _peachy_. I'm always mean to you, remember? You know, ever since you cheated on me with Sophie."

"It was one kiss!" Zane protested. "Besides, she practically forced me into it. Either way, I'm not here to argue with about that. True, you're not very nice to me these days, but it's never as bad as that. So I will ask this once more, and once more only. What's the matter?"

Rikki sighed. "Your ex-girlfriend? The blonde witch? She's back."

"What? And, Miriam was never my girlfriend," he added.

"Then why did you kiss her?" After a brief pause without Zane answering, she continued, "I thought so."

"Well, it's not my fault that she's back! She just decided to come back from wherever she went. In fact, how could she be my girlfriend if she didn't even tell me where she'd gone?"

"Never mind. I don't have time for this. Because guess who else is back."

"Who?"

"Charlotte. And not only that, but I think she's teaming up with Miriam or something. They were talking to each other just now, at least. I'm going to find the others. I need to warn them."

And so Rikki sped to the sea, hoping to find the others at Mako Island, of course, before Zane could fit in a word of his own.

* * *

"Cleo!" Rikki exclaimed as the brunette mermaid broke the surface in the moon pool, shortly followed by Bella.

"What's going on?" Cleo asked.

"Miriam and Charlotte are back!"

"What? Miriam too? I knew Charlotte was already - I saw her in the café talking to Sophie."

"She was talking to Sophie? She was talking to Miriam too! They've got to be planning something!"

"Like what?" Cleo asked.

"I don't know exactly, but my guess is that they're trying to get revenge on us in some way or another."

"We need to stop them!"

"And how are we going to do that?"

"It's three against four. We have a better amount of people."

"But we have a disadvantage." Rikki pointed to her tail.

"One which, if used appropriately, could actually help us instead."

"How?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but, like I said, there are four of us, and only three of them."

"Actually," Emma's voice came, "there are four of them too."

"What?" Cleo and Rikki asked in unison, turning around to face the underwater entrance which Emma had just swum through.

"Denman's back."

Amongst all the chaos, no one noticed when Bella silently slipped away...

* * *

**When The Tide Comes In: I also hate happy endings. They're so cliché and unrealistic. ;)**

**~Nemesis**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_**A few minutes earlier**_

Emma paced up and down the jetty. Where was Rikki? She was supposed to have been meeting Emma there twenty minutes ago. Of course, it was very like Rikki to be late for something like this rather casual event, but never _this_ late. Emma was beginning to feel slightly worried. She whipped her mobile out of her back pocket and dialed Rikki's number.

_Ring, ring… ring, ring… ring, ring… ring, ring..._

And no answer. Emma gave an impatient sigh and started to make her way to the other end of the jetty. But as she did so, she noticed something that made her frown, and completely forget that she was trying to get a hold of Rikki. She wasn't entirely sure if what she was looking at was what she thought it was - it had been around two years or so - give or take - since she'd last seen it, after all. So she decided to investigate.

Peering around in each direction to make sure that no one was looking at her, Emma dived off of the jetty and into the sea with a splash, before speeding over to the oh so familiar boat docked nearby. Sure enough, it was the boat of a certain marine biologist who was hated by Rikki, Cleo and Emma alike, as well as Lewis and Zane, and various others. And maybe even mermaids from different countries - who knew?

But as Emma watched, she saw something even more shocking than her original discovery that the boat was Dr Denman's: Charlotte was on board the boat too! At that, Emma rushed away to Mako.

* * *

Meanwhile, Charlotte was talking to Dr Denman.

"Dr Denman?" she questioned as she stepped onto her boat.

"That would be me," Linda answered. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello. My name is Charlotte Watsford. Now, I'm just going to cut straight to the chase - would I be correct in saying that you know three girls with a particular secret of great importance who go by the names of Cleo Sertori, Rikki Chadwick, and Emma Gilbert?"

Denman frowned. "Yes…" she answered, wondering where Charlotte was going with this.

"And is it true that you know this certain secret of theirs?"

"Yes. Do you?"

Charlotte nodded. "They have tails," she stated.

"Wait a minute. They _have_ tails?" she echoed. "I mean, I know they used to, but I thought they gave up their powers."

"Oh, no. It was all just a trick, you see. Something to do with the phase of the moon. Being as it was only a lunar eclipse, the girls only lost their powers for twelve hours, rather than forever as you may have thought. Now they're mermaids again. In fact, they regained their powers before you even left the Gold Coast. The same day, but I still find it quite devious. Don't you agree?"

"They've been fooling me this entire time? Those girls ruined my career! It took me years to get back in business! How dare they?!"

Charlotte nodded gravely. "They've done horrible things as such to all of us."

"All of us?"

"Oh, you'll see what I mean soon. Well, if you come with me, that is."

"Go with you where?"

"To help me, and various other enemies of Rikki, Cleo and Emma, to get revenge on them."

"Hmm… I just have one question: how do I know you're not lying about the girls being mermaids again?"

"You don't," Charlotte replied flatly. "But if you'll come and help me and all the others, you'll find out. Would like that? Or would you rather stay here wondering about it for the rest of your miserable life? And even if I am lying, you still have the right to get revenge on them. However, if you don't want to, you can simply let each long day of the long life you have ahead of you pass by without getting back at them."

"Well, I must admit that the former sounds like a much better option than the latter… Okay, I'll join your team."

* * *

Next, Charlotte went to visit Byron. He willingly joined, eager to get revenge on Emma after she ditched him for Ash. Then she found Elliot and Kim, who were just coming out of school (their summer holidays didn't start for a few more days yet. The graduates always finished school a little earlier). Kim was easy to get to - she hated her sister, and found the idea of getting revenge on her delightful. Elliot was a little harder of a target. He was such a polite little child, and, unlike Kim, he cared dearly for his elder sister. But Charlotte obviously knew this, and so she didn't mention anything about revenge. She simply told him they were planning a surprise party for Emma's upcoming birthday. Being such a clever person, she used his politeness to her advantage, and he agreed to tagging along as long as Kim went as well.

Lastly, Charlotte went to Harrison Bennett. She knew that he regretted letting his son allow the mermaids to escape each day, and that he would do anything to gain such a fortune again. And so it only took a minute for him to agree to helping Charlotte, Sophie, Miriam, Dr Denman, Byron, Kim, and Elliot to capture the girls once again and make them pay for losing the fortune he could have had.

Once that was all sorted, Charlotte quickly made her way back to Rikki's Café, where the whole group of angry people was gathered. She then proceeded to lead them to her home, where the planning of the revenge would take place, whilst Cleo, Emma and Rikki thought of a way to stop them, and Bella… Well, who knew what Bella was doing?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Right, do we all know why we're here?" Charlotte asked once everybody was settled in her living room.

"To get revenge!" Dr Denman gleefully exclaimed with a sly smile.

"Revenge?" Elliot repeated. "I thought we were planning a surprise party for my sister's birthday..."

"Oh Elliot. You're so gullible," Kim told him, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked. "What's going on?"

"We're going to get revenge on your sister and her friends. Can we get started now?" Miriam added impatiently.

"What?" Elliot interjected. "Why do we need to get revenge on them? What did they ever do to us?"

Charlotte shrugged. "Different things."

"I refuse to be a part of this. My sister and her friends have done nothing wrong."

"Oh, but they have, Elliot. They've been lying to you for years on end," Charlotte said. Everybody else watched curiously, wanting to find out what Emma and the others had been lying to Elliot about - with the exception of Zane's father and Dr. Denman, of course.

"My sister would never lie to me!"

"Linda," Charlotte addressed Dr. Denman, turning to face her.

"Yes?" Denman questioned.

"Get the pictures," Charlotte demanded. "You know the ones I mean."

Denman nodded, and picked up the folder she had placed on the table that she was now leaning on. She hurried to open it, before she took out two pictures of three girls. With tails. Looking at the first picture, most people narrowed their eyes a little; it was obvious that the photograph contained mermaids, but surely it was just a hoax? However, looking at the second picture, everyone gasped. For in this photo, the three faces of the mermaids were bright and clear: they were the faces of Cleo, Emma and Rikki.

"Th-this is f-fake!" Elliot stammered. "My sister isn't a... a fish!"

"Elliot!" Kim shouted. "Can't you see what's going on? Don't you remember Cleo's diary? I knew it! I knew they were mermaids! I bet Bella's one of them too!"

"Speaking of Bella," Sophie interrupted, "are we going to get revenge on her too?"

"Everything will be revealed soon," was all that Charlotte was willing to say.

* * *

As plans were made for the defeat of Rikki, Cleo and Emma, the three said girls were in the moon pool, planning out how to stop their enemies from getting revenge.

"Hey, where's Bella got to?" Emma suddenly asked, looking around the cave just in case Bella was hidden somewhere, which, of course, she was not.

Cleo frowned. "I don't know." Just as the words escaped her lips, none other than Bella surfaced in the pool once again.

"Where did you go?" Rikki asked.

"Guys, I just found out something really bad," Bella said, ignoring Rikki's question.

"What?" the other three chorused.

"You know those people who are trying to get revenge on us? There are more of them. I just saw a whole group of them at the café! Well, I'm pretty sure it was for that. It was Sophie, that girl Charlotte, and about six others! How are we going to beat all of them?!"

"Oh God," Emma groaned.

"Let's talk to Lewis," Cleo said.

* * *

"Lewis, we need your help," Cleo said to her boyfriend, sliding onto the seat next to him in Rikki's Café. The other three squeezed in next to each other on the opposite seats.

"What's going on?" Lewis asked.

"Long story short: Charlotte, Miriam and Denman are back, and they've gathered a whole _army_ to get us!"

After a long pause, Lewis said, "Wow."

"Wow?" Rikki echoed sceptically. "That's all you have to say? Wow? This is serious stuff! Act like it!"

"Maybe I should talk to Charlotte," Lewis suggested. "I'm sure I could convince her to end this."

"What about the others?" Emma asked. "They all have their minds set on revenge; they won't stop just because you want them to."

"I don't know. But let's at least have a go at this."

"Okay," Cleo reluctantly agreed. "But be careful. I don't want them to hurt you."

"I'll be fine. Nothing's going to happen to me."

With that, Lewis left, heading to Charlotte's house - or where she used to live at least, as she would probably be living there again now that she was back.

"Hey, guys, I need to go. I promised my mum I'd help her with something. Catch you later," Bella said, and stood up to leave too.

As Bella left, the others started to plan out how else they were going to stop their enemies from capturing them.

"Well, I guess Lewis can get Charlotte to back off," Emma said. "Doctor Denman... Maybe Lewis could handle her too?"

"And I bet Zane could get Sophie and Miriam to back down," Cleo said. "Rikki...?"

Rikki groaned. "Look, guys, I don't want Zane getting involved in things that are none of his business. We broke up. That's all there is to it. Can we just leave it at that?"

"Speaking of..." Emma pointed to the doorway of the café, which Zane had just walked in through.

"Great," Rikki muttered.

"Hey guys," Zane greeted as he reached the table that Rikki, Cleo and Emma were seated at together.

"What do you want?" Rikki asked.

"I'm not staying for long, don't worry. I just wanted to know if any of you know what's going on with Lewis and Bella?"

"What do you mean?" Cleo questioned with a frown.

"Guess not. Well, when I walked past them just now, they were acting really weird."

"Like how?"

"They were whispering to each other and running, as if they were in a hurry to get somewhere."

"I thought Bella was going home... As far as I'm aware, her house is in the opposite direction to Charlotte's."

"Something weird is definitely going on here," Emma said.

"We should investigate," Rikki agreed.

"Come on, let's go see what they're up to," Cleo said, and the three girls stood up.

Zane grabbed Rikki's arm just before she could leave. "Wait. What's this about Charlotte?"

"Oh, nothing," Rikki replied, avoiding eye contact with her ex-boyfriend. "She and her dumb friends are just planning to get revenge on us." Rikki rolled her eyes, still looking away from Zane. "It's no big deal, really."

"No, it is. Are they hassling you?"

"Don't stress. If you really want to know, ask Cleo or Emma. Bye."

Rikki freed herself of Zane's grip, and wordlessly exited the café, leaving him standing there thoughtfully.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Sophie, give it up," Zane said as Sophie cheerily walked into his office.

"Give what up?" Sophie inquired, smiling sweetly.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I can assure you that I don't."

"Stop doing whatever it is that you are to Rikki and her friends. I might not be dating Rikki at the moment, but that doesn't mean I don't care about her, and it certainly doesn't mean that I will allow you to harm her in any way."

"Zane... Whatever Rikki told you, it's all lies. I've not done a single thing to her."

"Oh yeah? Then why have I heard that you've been talking to Charlotte?"

Sophie looked taken aback at that.

Zane smirked. "I thought that would be your reaction. That's right, I know all about the scheme that you and Charlotte and the others have going on. I won't let you hurt them."

Sophie glared at Zane, but that expression soon turned to a sly smile. "Fine. I'll call off the whole thing, or at least leave the group myself, on one condition: you go out with me."

Zane rose from his chair and, very slowly, made his way over to Sophie. He leaned in as if to kiss her, and, with a huge smile on her face at the thought of getting her own way so easily, she did the same. But just at the last moment, Zane pulled back abruptly.

"I don't believe you," he said.

Sophie's jaw dropped and she crossed her arms. "Well then, Zane. You leave me with no choice." Sophie scanned the room and raced to Zane's desk, where she quickly picked up a vase, and whacked it against the head of Zane, who instantaneously fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

Zane awoke in a dim room. He squinted, looking around to see if he could find out where he was, or how to escape. He wondered how long he'd been out for. For all he knew, it could have been _days_ (although in actual fact, unbeknownst to him, it had only been an hour or two since Sophie had knocked him out). Zane went to stand up, but for some reason, he couldn't. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed that this was because he was tied up to a chair against the wall.

"Great," he muttered to himself.

"Ah, good. You're awake," a voice came, and Miriam stepped out of the shadows into Zane's view. "Hello, Zane," she said. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

"What's wrong, Elliot?" Emma asked her brother, who was glaring at her. He didn't reply.

"Elliot?" Emma questioned again. No answer.

"What's the matter? You can tell me."

Yet again, Elliot uttered not a single word, but, glaring daggers at his elder sister, he flounced out of the living room and upstairs.

Emma frowned, and was about to get up to follow him when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket to see that she had an incoming call from Cleo, which she answered.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked.

"Hi. Not much really, it's just... Kim's acting really weird," Cleo said. "I mean, I know she's always pretty weird, but she's acting so weird that... she isn't acting weird. If you know what I mean..."

"I... think so?" Emma said, although she didn't really understand at all.

"Well, she's really happy, for some reason," Cleo explained. "She's even been getting along with Sam. Am I the only one who finds it strange that the same girl who tried to stop Sam from getting married to our dad is now being even kinder to her than... well... Dad? She's been grinning all evening, and it's freaking me out."

"Elliot's acting strange too. He's actually been the opposite of Kim. He won't say a word to me; all he'll do is glare at me."

"Do you think this has to do with Charlotte and the others being back...?" Cleo asked suspiciously.

"I think you might be onto something there."

"Should we check it out?"

"Yeah. How does tomorrow sound?"

"Great. I'll ask Rikki."

"Okay, well, see you then."

"Bye."

* * *

The girls met up the next day at the corner of the road where Charlotte lived.

"Hey, Cleo, have you heard from Lewis about Charlotte?" Rikki asked quietly as the three made their way to Charlotte's house.

"Now that you mention it, no. Have either of you heard from Bella since then? I haven't."

"Nope," the other two chorused.

"What's going on with them?" Emma questioned.

"I have no idea," Rikki replied. "Anyway, let's get on with what we came here for."

Once Rikki, Emma and Cleo reached Charlotte's house, they snuck into her garden through the small, dingy alleyway to the side of it. As it turned out, the group were out in the garden, and so the alleyway was the perfect place to stay; the darkness of it keeping them hidden, as well as leaving them with a perfect view of the opposing group, and within perfect earshot of them too.

"Look at them all!" Cleo hissed. "Kim... Zane's dad... Byron... Even Elliot!"

"What's going on?" Emma asked. "I know that my little brother would never agree to help Charlotte get revenge on me. Apart from the mermaid thing, I've never kept any secrets from him, and this particular secret has obvious reasons as to why I wouldn't tell him."

"I really don't have a clue what they're planning," Rikki chimed in, "but we need to figure out what it is, and find a way to stop them. Come on, let's go and find the others."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Hi, guys," Sophie said, appearing next to the booth in Rikki's Café that the four mermaids were squeezed into. "Ready to order?"

Emma, Bella, Rikki and Cleo told Sophie what they would like to drink, and expected that she would then leave, but for some reason, she lingered for a moment.

"Got something else to say?" Rikki questioned.

"I was just wondering... Have any of you seen Zane recently?" Sophie asked sweetly, as if she didn't know.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't," Rikki replied, a frown forming on her face. "It's strange, actually, because he usually won't stop bugging me."

"Neither have I," Cleo said, and Bella and Emma shook their heads.

"Oh, okay, never mind. It's just that he hasn't been in here for a few days, and he's not answering his phone either. I don't suppose that any of you would stop round his house for me, and check that he's okay? I would go, but it's quite busy here, especially without his help... I'm getting quite worried though."

"I guess I could," Rikki agreed reluctantly. "I might as well go now."

Sophie smiled. "Thanks Rikki."

As Rikki stood up and said goodbye to her friends, Sophie turned back around and headed toward the counter. It was then that the friendly smile on her face became a sly one. She had to admit, she was a pretty good actress.

* * *

"Zane?" Rikki called out, banging on his front door as loudly as she could manage. The thought made her skin crawl, but she was actually slightly worried about her ex-boyfriend. "Zane?" she repeated. But her insistent pounding was to no avail, and eventually, she gave up with a sigh.

Rikki began to trail back to the café, where her friends were presumably still waiting with the drink she had ordered, but she stopped short as she passed Will's boat shed. A bright idea crossed her mind: perhaps he could help with the Zane situation. He had never exactly been the best of friends with Zane, but he would still be willing to help out Rikki, who actually _was _one of his best friends. Besides, he still owed her after she saved his life. Many times, might she add.

"Hey, Will," Rikki said, walking over to her friend as she spotted him outside of his boatshed.

"Oh, hi Rikki," he greeted her. "What's happening?"

"Well, I know you two don't really get along, but have you seen Zane lately?"

"Not really."

"Okay, never mind. Well, if you see him, tell me."

"Sure. Why do you want to find him anyway? I didn't think you were even friends with him anymore."

"I'm not. But Sophie was looking for him and nobody's really seen him for a while."

"Of course Sophie was looking for him," Will muttered, rolling his eyes. "She's crazy about him."

Rikki sighed. "I noticed."

"I'll speak to Sophie about Zane," Will said. "See if I can find out if there's more to the story or something."

"Thanks," Rikki said with a gracious nod, then left for the café once again.

* * *

"Hey Em."

Emma turned around to see none other than her boyfriend standing behind the table she was sitting at with Cleo in the café, Bella having left just moments earlier.

'I'll just be a minute,' she mouthed to her friend then stood up and walked over to Ash.

"Hey Ash!" she exclaimed, and pulled him into a hug. She hadn't seen him for ages.

"How are things?" Ash asked.

Emma contemplated whether or not she should tell Ash the truth about what was happening with Charlotte and the others, but quickly decided against it. She didn't want to get him tangled up in the whole mess. "You know, the usual."

"I see that Charlotte's back."

"So I noticed."

"Have you spoken to her recently at all?"

"No." It wasn't a complete lie.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Sure about that?"

Emma sighed in defeat. "I haven't spoken to her, but... there _is_ something going on with her. How did you guess?"

"I know you," was all Ash would say. "So what's she been getting up to?"

"She's planning something, with some other people that don't particularly like Cleo, Rikki and I."

"Right. Well if there's anything you need help with, just let me know."

"Of course."

* * *

"Okay, bye Cleo," Rikki said and cut off the call. She had just rung the brunette mermaid to fill her in on what had happened when she went to Zane's house, and about how she spoke to Will.

After hanging up, Rikki began walking back to the café where Emma and Cleo awaited her, when she heard a familiar voice. One of an extremely flirtatious boy that she really did not care to speak to at that moment - or ever, for that matter.

She quickly ducked behind the bush she was standing next to, in order to avoid Nate. He seemed preoccupied with another girl just then, but one never knew. Rikki thought back to the time when Nate had used the ambergris and shuddered. He had flirted with Cleo, Emma, and herself all at once!

Rikki dared to peer above the leaves in front of her, trying to determine whether or not she would be able to escape going unnoticed. But what she saw shocked her: Bella was the one walking with Nate. But that wasn't the shocking part, for Bella was clinging onto Nate's arm, laughing at all of his lame jokes, and she genuinely looked like she was having a good time. Not only that, but before Rikki's very own eyes, Bella and Nate hugged.

Rikki, being rather an intelligent girl, quickly unlocked the screen of her phone, which she was still holding, and opened the camera app, which she then used to take a snapshot of the two, prepared to show it to Cleo and Emma when she saw them in a couple of minutes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Guys, look at this picture," Rikki said, breathless from running, the instant she arrived at the café and seated herself opposite Cleo, just as Emma was coming to sit back down from where she had been with Ash a few moments ago.

Rikki opened the picture gallery on her phone and tapped on the picture of Nate and Bella to make it fill the whole screen. Cleo's eyes widened as she looked at it, and Emma gasped as she sat down next to Rikki, who turned her phone around slightly to show it to Emma.

"Why would Bella even be talking to Nate, let alone _hugging_ him?" Emma asked, before quickly rethinking what she had just said. "Well, I suppose it would make sense for her to talk to him, being as they're in the same band and everything. But why would she hug him? Especially since she has a boyfriend... Speaking of her boyfriend, has Will seen that picture?"

"That's exactly what I thought when I saw them hugging; it's the reason why I took the picture. And no, I haven't shown or told him... Do you think I should?"

"I don't know. Maybe," Emma replied, not very helpfully. "I think we should just try to figure out why they were hugging first though."

"Why don't we just ask Bella?" Cleo suggested, but the other two shook their heads.

"If there's something going on here," Rikki said, "Bella could easily lie about it just to fool us. I'm not saying that there definitely is something going on, but you never know. So in case there is, let's do our own investigating first, yeah?"

"Okay," Cleo agreed. "What kind of investigating?"

"I'm... not really sure..." Rikki frowned, trying to think of something. "What if we just follow them or something?"

"I suppose it's the best option we've got, so I'm in," Emma said. "We just have to be careful not to be seen and everything."

Suddenly, Emma looked up and noticed two people of particular interest walking into the café together through the doorway - Bella and Nate. As Nate made his way toward the stage, Bella came and sat down next to Cleo.

"Hi guys," she said. "I need to go practise with the band in a few, but what are we talking about anyway?"

"Nothing much," Emma said. "Just, you know, usual chat."

Bella joined in the conversation, the others, of course, changing it to become actual usual chat, rather than about her, until Nate called her up on to the stage to rehearse.

"That's my cue," she said, standing up. "I'll talk to you later."

As Bella and the band played a mixture of original songs, the other girls seemingly watched and listened, although in reality their thoughts were so far away that they didn't even register what was going on. Even Cleo didn't notice when her own boyfriend came and sat down next to her.

"Hey," Lewis said, making the three girls jump. "Sorry?" he offered. "What's gotten in to you guys?"

Rikki pulled her mobile out of her pocket and unlocked the screen to show the picture of Bella and Nate to Lewis. "Look at this!" she exclaimed. "Why would Bella be hugging Nate? I mean, I would understand if he jumped at her and she just pulled away or something, but it seemed like she actually _wanted _to hug him. I don't understand why; he's so... _repulsive_." She made a face.

"You know, I'm being reminded of a similar situation here... One when we all considered an ex-boyfriend of yours as repulsive, and how these guys caught you two hugging..."

Rikki rolled her eyes. "This is different. Bella has a boyfriend," she pointed out.

"Look, it's probably nothing. Maybe she was just being polite."

"But... why would she be so polite as to hug him?" Emma asked, bewildered._  
_

"See, even Emma agrees!" Rikki exclaimed smugly.

"Well, I guess I'll keep an eye out," Lewis told the others, just as Bella made her way back to the group. "I'd best be going, but I'll catch you later."

"Bye Lewis," Cleo said with a smile, and Bella took the seat which he had just left empty.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing really. We were just talking to Lewis about..." Cleo trailed off, gazing around blankly, before continuing, "certain things. Nothing of particular interest."

"Okay then." A silence followed. Not an awkward one, but one that gave a slight warning, though no one was really sure what the warning was supposed to be. It was, however, soon broken by the shrill ringing of Emma's phone.

"Hey Mum," Emma said as she answered the call. "Okay," she said after a brief pause, then, "Yeah, I'll be right there." Another pause before, "Okay. Bye."

"Sorry, I've gotta go," Emma apologised to her friends. "See you."

"I think I'll leave too know. I have things to do. You two staying?"

"I guess I might as well go too, if that's okay with you, Bella?"

"Yeah, fine," Bella said. "I guess I'll go catch up with Will or something. Bye."

* * *

Around ten minutes after Rikki and Cleo left the café, they were strolling along the beach when they spotted a familiar boy and girl nearby, both blonde, deep in conversation.

"Is that... Bella?" Cleo frowned. "And... Lewis?"

"I think so..." Rikki said slowly. "I thought Bella said she was going to find Will or whatever. I wonder what she's talking about with Lewis."

"I'm not sure, but it looks kind of intense," Cleo said. It was true; they were talking quietly enough that Rikki and Cleo couldn't make out what they were conversing about, but their whispering was so harsh that they could just catch the edge of it.

Cleo tried her hardest to catch a word or two, and although she did hear some parts, they were out of context, and she wasn't sure what they meant. Though there was one thing that stuck out a little more than the rest. It was a sentence that Lewis once uttered: "They saw you with Nate."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Hey Soph," Will said as he walked toward the counter in Rikki's Café where his sister was almost finished with her work.

"Oh, hi Will," Sophie replied, looking up from the till where she was stashing away the money that a costumer had just given to her.

"Can we talk?" Will asked.

"Um, sure." Sophie looked down at her watch. "My shift's over in half an hour. Why don't you wait for me in the back?" Sophie suggested, pointing toward the door that led into Zane's office. "I'll meet you there."

"Okay," Will agreed. "See you, sis."

* * *

"You took your time," Will said casually, lounging on the sofa, as Sophie entered the back room and took off her apron.

"Hi to you too," Sophie answered, smiling. "How was your day?"

"Fine, I guess. How about yours?"

"Busy. It's such a hot day; there were so many customers today, and without Zane around..."

"Speaking of Zane, Rikki was talking to me about him earlier."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm, something about him disappearing. She told me you asked her to check for him at his house, but he wasn't there."

A devious grin crept onto Sophie's face. "In all honesty, I'm not worried about Zane in the least."

"Why might that be?" Will asked, frowning confusedly, although the answer was beginning to dawn upon him without Sophie telling him anything.

"Well," she lowered her voice, looking around the room even though there was obviously no one there apart from the pair of them, "between you and me... I know where he is."

"Why?"

"Because I teamed up with a few others and we took him. And the most genius part is, he's locked in his own basement!"

"Uh, wow," Will said.

"Isn't it great?" Sophie grinned gleefully.

Will stood up with a freaked out expression on his face. "No!"

Sophie's smile disappeared. "What?"

"Well, first off, you pretty much kidnapped the guy!"

"But I thought you didn't like him!"

"I don't, but Rikki does, and she's my friend. Anyway, what about you? I thought you liked him."

"I do."

"Why would you lock up someone you care for?!" Will was exasperated at his sister's psychopathic actions.

"He rejected me for Rikki; I had to do _something _to punish him."

"Wow, the other's were right: you really were a monster." Will backed away to leave.

"Wait! You won't tell anyone, right?"

"Of course I will! A word of warning Soph, be careful who you tell things like this to next time - if there _is _a next time. Think before you speak, _sis_."

At that, Will made his getaway before Sophie could do to him what she did to Zane.

* * *

As soon as Will had left the café and was jogging to his boat shed, he sent an urgent message to Rikki telling her to meet him at his boat shed as soon as possible, and to bring along the others if she could.

Rikki received the text instantly and showed it to Cleo, who was still with her on the beach.

"Come on, let's go," Rikki said, and began to walk away at a fast pace.

"Wait," Cleo said, standing in place. "Should we bring Lewis and Bella?"

Rikki looked over at the pair and raised an eyebrow. "I'm thinking not. We should probably show Will the photo of Bella and Nate, and tell him what we just heard between her and Lewis. I don't think it'd be a good idea if either of them were there during that process. Besides, there's _definitely _something fishy going on with them two."

"Okay," Cleo agreed. "But let's ask Emma to come at least."

Rikki nodded and tapped out a quick message to Emma, her phone still being in her hand and unlocked after the text from Will.

* * *

Meanwhile, Emma was just leaving her house after having to run a few annoying errands for her parents. She was seriously considering moving out and never talking to her family ever again... Ever.

As Emma walked along the pavement, looking down at her phone to check if she had any missed calls or messages from Cleo, Rikki, Bella or anyone else, she bumped into someone she knew - quite literally.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, stooping down to pick up the book he had been holding, which he had dropped the moment he collided with her.

"Wow, that's all you seem capable of saying recently, Em," Ash teased, referring to the countless times she had seen him around and said his name in such a way.

Emma rolled her eyes. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing much, just bumping into random girls in the street and flirting with them," Ash joked. "Anything interesting happening with you?"

"Not really. I'm just heading back to... well... wherever the others are, to hang out with them."

"Oh, okay. Speaking of the others, it's kind of strange that you're not with them right now."

"Is it?"

"Well, you're just with them all the time. I can understand why though, considering your..." Ash trailed off, but Emma knew that he meant the secret trait she had in common with Rikki, Bella and Cleo - her tail. She nodded.

"I was just about to text them to check where they are actually." Emma looked down at her phone which she still held, and as if on cue, the text alert flashed on the screen, accompanied by a beep. She opened the message to see that it was from Rikki but frowned when she read it: _SOS. Meet at Will's place._

"What's so urgent?" Ash asked, frowning as he peered at Emma's phone.

Emma frowned. "I'm not sure."

"Is this to do with Charlotte and the rest?"

"Probably," Emma admitted.

"I'm here to help," Ash said gently. "Just let me know what you need and I can help you."

"I don't need your help. I don't anyone's help," Emma said, her good old independence kicking in.

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine," Emma gave in.

"So who's working with Charlotte?"

"Um... Sophie, Miriam, Denman, Zane's dad, Byron-" Ash's eyes narrowed at the mention of the person who Emma used to be so infatuated with torturing her "-Kim... I don't know how, but they've even managed to get Elliot helping them."

"I'll see what I can do," Ash said protectively. "Anyhow, you'd better get to your meeting or whatever. I'll catch you later."

* * *

"What's going on?" Emma asked impatiently the moment she swung open the door to Will's place to see the solemn faces of Rikki, Cleo and Will himself staring back at her.

"Sophie and her crew took Zane," Rikki told her bitterly. "I _knew _she hadn't changed for real."

"Did you show him the picture?" Emma asked, motioning to Will.

"What picture?" Will asked.

"I'll take that as a no then."

Rikki pulled her mobile out of her pocket. "Now's as good a time as any." She got the picture of Bella and Nate hugging up on the screen and handed her phone to Will.

"Whoa, when did this happen?!" he asked, his eyes widened.

"Just after I left here earlier today."

"What did I miss?" As far as Will knew, Bella couldn't stand Nate.

Rikki shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Okay, so what are we going to do about Zane?" Emma inquired.

"Wait, there's one more thing," Cleo said. She took a deep breath before stating, "We heard Bella talking to Lewis, and... he told her that 'they saw you with Nate'." Cleo made quotation marks with her fingers as she said exactly what Lewis had. We're presuming that 'they' is us..."

"What? Why would he tell her that?" Emma asked sceptically.

"Once again, your guess is as good as mine," Rikki said.

"Okay, well, let's think rationally," Cleo said. "It's probably nothing bad. I mean, it was Nate who we saw Bella hugging, and he wasn't at Charlotte's meeting when we saw them. Neither were Bella or Lewis. If they were, at least one of them would have been there. I understand if perhaps one of them was sick or something and there were too many people to reschedule, but it's unlikely that the same goes for all three of them. So they can't be working with Charlotte, right?" She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself that her boyfriend and one of her best friends weren't evil more than anyone else.

"That makes sense," Emma said, carefully nodding.

A look of relief appeared on Cleo's face; if Emma thought it made sense, it made sense.

"Now we just have to figure out what it is that they _are _doing," Rikki concluded.

**What do y'all think they're up to? Good or bad? Who's on which side here? Is Bella cheating on Will (LOL, that player)?! Is Lewis cheating on Cleo?! Is Sophie going to end up in an asylum for the mentally insane? Is Ash going to kill Byron? Does Emma have some sort of obsession with her phone? Does Nemesis need to interact with her readers more often? Because this is probably the first time I've ever actually said anything this long at the beginning or end of a chapter.**

**~Nemesis ._.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"What is your problem?" Ash asked.

Byron looked up from his phone. "What are you talking about?"

"Look, I understand that you might not like Emma after she broke up with you, but how is torturing her the answer to that?"

"Who told you I was torturing her?" Byron asked, playing the fool.

"Emma and the others saw you with a group of people like Charlotte. We know that you're planning something. Why would you do that? It's not her fault that the two of you grew apart! She just did what she thought was best!"

Byron stood up from the bench he was sitting on, holding eye contact with Ash and smiling slyly. "Thanks for the information," he said, then walked away.

* * *

"Wait, so they know we're planning something?" Charlotte asked Byron down the phone for clarification.

"Yeah," Byron replied. "And they're obviously determined to find out what it is."

"Okay, in that case, we need to mislead them. I think it's time for Plan B."

"I'm on it. I'll call him now."

"Good. And if you fail..." Charlotte trailed off, leaving the threat wide with possibilities.

Byron gulped, knowing what Charlotte was capable of. "I won't."

* * *

"Guys!" Bella exclaimed, breathlessly bursting into Will's boat shed where Emma, Rikki, Cleo and Will were still discussing the situation.

"What is it?" Emma asked, turning around in her seat to face the door.

"You know how a while ago we discovered that Sophie and some others were planning something against us? Well, Nate and I have figured out what."

"Is that why you were hugging him?" Will asked hopefully.

"How did you know about that?" Bella puzzled.

"Rikki caught you two together."

"Oh, okay. Well anyway, yes, that is why."

"Right, so spill," Cleo said.

"Well, Charlotte's planning on turning herself into a mermaid again, as well as Sophie and Miriam, so that they can use their powers against you. Dr. Denman and Dr. Bennett are setting up traps to lure you to Mako; they think that you won't suspect it this time because they did the same thing once before. Kim, Elliot and Byron are just there to gather information," Bella explained. "I'm not involved in the revenge because Charlotte's the one who planned it all out."

"Wow," Emma remarked. "That's actually a pretty genius plan."

"I know," Bella agreed, nodding. "Just be careful, okay? Promise that none of you will go anywhere near Mako, for the time being. Until we know we've got this situation sorted."

"Definitely not," Cleo said.

Suddenly, Bella's phone vibrated in her pocket, and she took it out to check the text message she had received. "It's from my mum," she said after reading it, and began to let herself out. "Gotta run. Good luck."

As soon as the door clicked shut, Rikki, who had been silent and motionless up until now throughout Bella's visit, sat up straight. "We can't trust Bella," she said, flat out.

"Why?" Emma frowned.

"Her story made sense; like you said, it was a really good plan. But there was one thing she said that didn't add up."

"What was it?" Will asked.

"You know how you asked if that was why she was hugging Nate, and she asked how we knew that?" Rikki said, turning to Will. "Well, she already knew that we knew; Cleo and I overheard Lewis telling her so. And Cleo," Rikki turned back around to face Cleo, then continued, "I hate to break it to you, but we can't trust Lewis either."

"What? Just because he told Bella that information, doesn't mean he was using it against us. He probably doesn't know that Bella's working with Charlotte, if she is."

Rikki shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. Well, it is a part of it, but... That text that Bella said was from her mum? It wasn't. I saw her phone when she reading it. I couldn't make out what the message said, but the text was definitely from Lewis."

* * *

"Hey Ash," Emma greeted her boyfriend as she passed him. She had just left Will's place (although Cleo and Rikki were still there).

"Uh, is everything okay with Charlotte and the rest?" Ash asked, and Emma noticed that he looked a little fidgety.

"What's the matter?"

Ash sighed. "It's just... I went to talk to Byron-"

"You what? Why?"

"Because of what you told me, about him working with Charlotte. And I kinda accidentally let it slip that you guys know that he is. And he thanked me for the information..."

"Ash!" Emma yelled, prepared to have a go at him, but suddenly, the puzzle began to fit together inside her head. "Actually... maybe it's a good that you told him."

"It is?" Ash questioned doubtfully.

"It is," Emma echoed. "Well, probably. See, Bella told us that she and Nate found out what the others are planning and she told us what it is, but when she left, Rikki told us that we couldn't trust her, and the reasons why made total sense. Right, so Byron was thankful that you told him, so I guess he went to tell Charlotte or something, and if Bella really is working against us, maybe Charlotte told her to feed us that story, in order to keep us off the track."

"Wow, that's some really smart thinking. So I guess this makes up for me being a complete idiot and telling Byron that...?"

Emma smiled. "You're forgiven. Now, if you'd excuse me, I think I'd better let the girls know."

After exchanging goodbyes with Ash, Emma sprinted back to where the others still were, with Will, and rushed to tell them what Ash had said, and her idea about it.

"Okay," Rikki started after Emma had finished speaking. "So, if that plan definitely was a fake, I reckon Bella was trying to keep us away from Mako for a reason. So... maybe we need to go there, to find something out?"

"I think that's a good plan," Cleo agreed. "Should we go now?"

"The sooner the better," Emma shrugged. "You coming, Will?"

The said boy shook his head. "I think I'll go over to Bella's place, and talk to her about... this."

"Okay, but be sure not to tell her what we were just talking about," Cleo said.

"Of course I won't."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"What's the matter?" Bella asked Will urgently as she opened her front door and ushered her boyfriend into the living room, where Lewis was sitting on the sofa. She had received a text from him just minutes prior, warning her that something bad was about to happen.

"It's Rikki, Cleo and Emma," Will said after he'd taken a seat next to Lewis and caught his breath from all the running he did to get there.

"What about them?" Bella asked.

"They found out that what you told them was a lie, and they know that both of you are working with Charlotte. Luckily, they don't suspect me at all. They told me that they're heading out to Mako, because they know that you want them away from there for a reason."

"We need to tell Charlotte now," Lewis said, and Bella nodded in agreement and picked up her mobile from beside her, which she held against her ear as it rung after dialling Charlotte's number.

"Charlotte!" she exclaimed as the redhead picked up the phone. "Cleo, Emma and Rikki know that I was lying, and they've gone out to Mako. We need to get there, quickly, to stop them from seeing the vision and finding out our real plan."

"Good idea," Charlotte said on the other end of the line. "I think we should change the plan too, to the fake one you told the girls. They won't be expecting it."

"True," Bella said. "Gather everyone at your house, and I'll bring the mixture so that we can turn you back into a mermaid, and Miriam and Sophie too."

Bella ended the call before Charlotte even had the chance to begin her answer, and stood up. "Come on," she told the two boys. "We need to get to Charlotte's place, _now_!"

* * *

Miriam sat in her prisoner's basement, idly staring around at the blank walls. Being on duty to watch him had been kind of fun at first, but after a while, it had become rather a bore. So much so that she had untied Zane, giving him the easy opportunity to escape. Not that he had tried, probably because he Miriam had threatened to hurt Rikki if he left.

Suddenly, Miriam's phone began to play her ringtone, and she lifted it off the only clean and carpeted area of the mostly dusty floor that she was sitting on.

"Hey, Charlotte, what's up?" Miriam asked after accepting the call.

"There's been a change of plans. You need to get to my house as soon as possible. Meet me in the back garden, out by the pool."

"But what about Za-"

"Don't worry about him," Charlotte cut her off. "We're doing everything tonight, and after that, Zane will no longer be a concern to us."

"All right," Miriam said, but Charlotte was already gone.

* * *

"What now?" Miriam asked, arriving in Charlotte's garden to see that Charlotte herself was sitting there, along with Sophie beside her, Will and Lewis opposite, and Bella in the pool in her mermaid form.

"Denman and the rest are on their way to Mako Island on the boat, with a gate to keep the girls securely locked in the moon pool. Meanwhile, Bella here is going to turn me, you, and Sophie into mermaids, using a potion that Lewis found a while back. The potion can grant any wish that a person chants aloud or in their head when a mermaid with her tail who has the potion on her is nearby," Charlotte explained quickly. "Bella here already has a bit of the mixture on her face, as you can see. All you need to do now is wish to become a mermaid, and we can all go out to Mako to stop the others from seeing the vision."

"Right," Miriam said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bella called out. "Hurry!"

* * *

"Uh... what exactly is it that Bella didn't want us to see out here...?" Emma asked, looking around the near enough empty pool as she surfaced.

"I... have no idea," Rikki admitted, before a sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute. It's a full moon tonight, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is!" Cleo piped up. "I remember Lewis warning me a few days ago."

"You don't think the tentacle...?" Rikki left her question hanging.

"You could be onto something there," Cleo nodded.

"Can someone please tell me what you're talking about?" Emma inquired.

"Oh, right," Cleo said, turning to her. "Sorry, we forgot you weren't there. Well, you know how Rikki, Bella and I told you about how we saw that vision a few months ago, and managed to stop the comet from hitting Earth?"

Emma nodded, and Rikki continued for Cleo, "The thing is, the tentacle is what pushed us into the pool, and probably what gave us the vision, on the night of a full moon. We're thinking that perhaps the same thing is going to happen tonight: the tentacle might show us another vision and give us a hint to what's going on exactly."

"Ah," Emma said. "I see." As she finished speaking, a hint of moonlight began to show, reflecting on the water.

"It's time," Rikki said, gazing upward. When she looked back down, she noticed that a tentacle was rising from the water and an image was starting to appear on the wall. The three girls stared ahead, anticipating what was about to come... when a noise broke the spell. The tentacle dropped. The image wavered, then faded completely, like a computer running out of charge.

"What happened?!" Cleo cried.

"Did you two hear that clanging noise...?" Emma asked at the same time, dread beginning to rise inside her.

"Wait a minute... Do you think Denman used that gate again?" Cleo asked, eyes wide. The three girls frantically disappeared under the surface of the water, and swam down to the opening that one could use to access the cave from underwater, or to exit it. And as they expected, the gate was securely blocking any chance they had of escaping. However, there was something down there that they _weren't_ expecting too. Just beyond the metal bars, the faces of the three people who had done this were staring right back at them: Miriam, Sophie, and Charlotte. With tails.

**I updated quickly this time because I always make y'all wait for so long. Anyhow, after this chapter, there's one more then an epilogue and the story's done. I'm still contemplating whether or not I'll write a sequel to this (pretty short, I know) story, though.**

**~Nemesis. ._.**


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